Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 02 Sept 2024

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully. By clicking "Submit" for your application to the program, you certify as an authorized representative of the applicant that you have read and agree to these Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions include the Program details and all instructions on how to participate in the Program. Failure to comply with the Terms and Conditions may result in disqualification from participation in the Program.

Parties

  1. These terms and conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”) will apply to all applications (the “Application”) submitted by the Institute (as defined in Section 4) (the “Applicant”) to participate in the Nature Award MDx Impact Grants (the “Program”) administered by the Administrator (as defined in Section 2) and sponsored by Seegene, Inc. (the “Sponsor”) to perform clinical studies in connection with the Sponsor’s development of syndromic molecular diagnostics assays (the “Sponsor Assays”).
  2. Springer Nature Customer Service Center, GmbH (the “Administrator”) is responsible for the administration and management of the Application process for the Program.
  3. Upon the selection of a successful applicant (“Successful Applicant”) under the Program, the Sponsor and each Successful Applicant shall engage in negotiations in good faith to execute a separate clinical research agreement (“Clinical Research Agreement”). However, the execution of each Clinical Research Agreement is subject to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including medical devices laws, anti-corruption laws, and medical device industry codes, as well as the internal policies of the Successful Applicant. It is important to note that both the Sponsor and the Successful Applicant reserve the full discretion to either accept or deny the execution of such Clinical Research Agreement.

Application Eligibility

  1. To submit the Application, the Applicant must be a university, research institution, clinical laboratory, or other similar organization (the “Institute”) that:
    1. has a BSL-2 (Biosafety level 2) or higher laboratory capable of performing clinical study;
    2. has a research team consisting of at least two (2) or more qualified professional employees who are experienced in PCR or plans to hire;
    3. possess clinical specimens (positive/negative) or have a collection plan; and
    4. has a full capacity to, and otherwise be able to, participate in a clinical study to obtain regulatory approvals for the Sponsor Assays.
  2. Each Applicant may submit up to three (3) Applications, each of which (i) must direct to a different target involving different clinical samples and (ii) can be achieved within a maximum budget of 600,000 USD to include all direct and indirect costs of clinical study.
  3. The Applicant must ensure that all necessary licenses and approvals related to the Application have been, and will be, obtained.
  4. In addition to Section 4 above, as an authorized representative of the Applicant, you must have a doctorate or medical degree (e.g., PhD, MD, or PharmD) and be a resident in a country where it is legal for the Applicant to apply and be selected for participation in the Program.
  5. In no event the Application will be accepted from any of the followings:
    1. Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Burma/Myanmar, Niger, Russia, Belarus or the Crimea, Donetsk or Luhansk regions of Ukraine, or other sanction-sensitive countries or regions as updated from time to time;
    2. any individual named on Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) lists as updated from time to time by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of U.S. Department of the Treasury;
    3. officers, directors, or employees (including members of their immediate families) of the Administrator or the Sponsor; and
    4. any affiliate of the Administrator or the Sponsor.
  6. The Applicant must ensure that it (including its directors, officers, employees, agents, and contractors who directly or indirectly participate in the Program) will follow good research practices and protocols to be eligible for the Program.

Application Process and Timeline

  1. The Application process will be open for entries between September 2, 2024 and December 2, 2024, 23:59 GMT. The Administrator anticipates that the review and selection process will take about eight months under normal circumstances.
  2. The Administrator and the Sponsor accept no responsibility for the Application that is incomplete, illegible, corrupted, or fails to reach the Administrator by the closing date for any reason. Proof of posting or sending is not proof of receipt by the Administrator.
  3. The Application must be submitted only via the website at the following URL: https://natureawards.submittable.com/submit/33ff4835-c8dd-4cdb-a756-ce8d6cc49eec/nature-awards-mdx-impact-grants
    (“Website”). No other form of submission for Applications is permitted.
  4. The Application must be sent to the Submittable platform (the “Submittable”). By applying to participate in the Program, you as an authorized representative of the Applicant (i) consent to such use, processing, and transfer of your personal data as required by all applicable data protection laws and the Submittable’s privacy policy (the “Submittable Privacy Policy”) and (ii) have sole responsibility for the accuracy, quality and legality of personal data processed by the Submittable in the provision of the services it provides to the Administrator for the Application process. The Submittable Privacy Policy is available at: https://www.submittable.com/privacy/.
  5. The Application submitted by a third party (including an agent) of the Institute will not be accepted.
  6. The Applicant must keep a copy of its Application because the Administrator may not be able to return entries or provide copies of the Application once submitted.
  7. The Administrator may, in its sole discretion, disqualify any Applicant found to be tampering or interfering with the entry process or operation of the Website, or to be acting in any manner deemed to be disruptive of or prejudicial to the operation or administration of the Application process.
  8. All Applications may be assessed by the Administrator’s review panel (the “Review Panel”) made up of (i) experts active in the field of molecular diagnostics and infectious diseases and (ii) employees of the Sponsor. The Review Panel will select the Applications which best fit the aims of the Program and the Sponsor pursuant to the Program.
  9. Any decision made by the Review Panel will be final, and the Applicant agrees and acknowledges that the Applicant will not challenge such decision made by the Review Panel.
  10. All Applicants must represent, warrant, and ensure that any submission of the Application to the Program does not include any confidential information of a third party, regardless of whether it is labeled as ‘confidential’ or other similar markings. In no event the Sponsor or the Administrator does assume any legal obligations, such as confidentiality, compensation, or return, with regard to any Application containing confidential information of a third party.
  11. The Applicant understands and acknowledges that the Sponsor has broad access to technology, designs, and other materials, and may work on projects and ideas that may be competitive with, similar or identical to the submitted Application. The Sponsor reserves the right to pursue competitive, similar, or identical ideas in the future without any restrictions or obligations. The Applicant acknowledges and agrees that it will not be entitled to any compensation if the Sponsor uses similar or identical material that has come from other sources.

 Shortlist Process and Successful Applicant

  1. The Review Panel will select a shortlist of the Applicants, which will be announced on March 4, 2025. Each shortlisted Applicant must keep its status completely confidential until the official public announcement of the shortlist.
  2. The Sponsor may, in their sole discretion, choose to conduct onsite evaluation of the shortlisted Applicants to assess and confirm eligibility criteria, which the Applicants hereby expressly agree to provide all reasonable access and cooperation.
  3. The Successful Applicants will be announced on August 8, 2025 with each Successful Applicant receiving from the Sponsor an initial notification email, followed by a formal award letter. Each Successful Applicant must keep its status completely confidential until the official public announcement of the Successful Applicant.
  4. Each Successful Applicant must complete and return an eligibility form and notify the Sponsor of its intention to enter into the Clinical Research Agreement within fourteen (14) calendar days after the date of the formal award letter.
  5. All unsuccessful Applicants will be notified by the Administrator in due course. The Application data submitted by all unsuccessful Applicants will be deleted and/or destroyed after the announcement of Successful Applicants.
  6. The Administrator will not be liable if any Successful Applicant and the Sponsor fail to enter into the Clinical Research Agreement.
  7. If applicable, any government official who submits an Application on behalf of any governmental entity that he or she is working for must ensure that such Application is not prohibited by law and, if the governmental entity is selected as a Successful Applicant, that the governmental entity is allowed by applicable laws and regulations to enter into the Clinical Research Agreement without violating any laws and regulations for its role and jurisdiction.

Obligations

  1. The Successful Applicants are themselves responsible for (i) complying with all the necessary ethical, legal, regulatory requirements, and other applicable guidelines in order to conduct and develop the clinical study and (ii) carrying out the proposed studies as described in the application and provide information related to the activities supporting the development upon Sponsor’s request.
  2. The Successful Applicant’s participation to this Program may be publicized in publications, media appearances, and press releases by the Sponsor.
  3. The Successful Applicants will be interviewed for the Program.
  4. The Sponsor may convene a meeting to gather all the Successful Applicants together and showcase the results of the Program. Attendance of the meeting is mandatory for all the Successful Applicants.

Intellectual Property Right

  1. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions will cause the ownership of any intellectual property rights belonging to one party to be transferred to another.
  2. By submitting the Application, the Applicant grants, to the Administrator and Sponsor, an irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, loyalty-free, and transferable right to use, modify, and reproduce all contents of the Application for the purposes of the administration of the Application process and the Successful Applicant selection process, without attribution or liability.
  3. The Applicant represents and warrants that the Application (including its contents) contains no copyright materials, has not been copied, in whole or in part, from any third party, and that the Applicant has full authority to grant these rights.
  4. The Applicant confirms that:
    1. the Application is its original work, is not defamatory, and does not infringe any laws, including, but not limited to, applicable data protection laws, whether of the UK or elsewhere, or any rights of any third party;
    2. the Applicant has the right to give the Administrator and the Sponsor permission to use it for the purposes specified herein;
    3. the Applicant have obtained the consent of anyone who is identifiable in the Application or the consent of their parent, guardian or caregiver if they are under 18 (or the applicable age of majority);
    4. it is lawful for the Applicant to apply; and
    5. the Applicant agrees not to transfer files which contain viruses or any other harmful programs.

Data Protection

  1. All personal data submitted by the Applicant is subject to, and will be treated in a manner consistent with, the followings:
    1. the Administrator’s privacy policy (the “Administrator Privacy Policy”), which is accessible at https://www.nature.com/info/privacy;
    2. the Submittable’s Privacy Policy; and
    3. the Sponsor’s privacy notice, which is accessible at https://www.seegene.com/privacy_policy (collectively, the “Privacy Policies”).
  2. Applicants understand and agree that their Applications will be stored for up to two (2) years if they are selected as the shortlisted or Successful Applicants.
  3. The Applicant acknowledges that the Administrator, directly or through the Submittable, and the Sponsor may collect and/or use its employees’ personal information. The Applicant, therefore, must ensure and confirm that:
    1. its employees whose personal information is processed for the Program have read and accepted the Privacy Policies;
    2. its employees whose personal information is processed for the Program consent to the collection and use of their personal information by the Administrator, Submittable, and the Sponsor for the purposes of the administration of the Application process, the Successful Applicant selection and announcement process, and any other purposes to which they have consented.
  4. The Successful Applicant must provide the Sponsor with (i) their employees’ answers to the Sponsor’s profile questions and (ii) their employees’ headshot photograph (JPEG, 150x150 pixels or as instructed by the Sponsor or the Administrator) before the announcement.
  5. The Successful Applicant acknowledges that the name, region of residence, profile and likeness of the Successful Applicant’s employees may be used and announced for the Program and event publicity in any form, including on the Sponsor’s website and social media pages, as well as those of the Administrator, at no cost to the Sponsor or the Administrator. The Successful Applicant therefore must ensure and confirm the same obligations as described in Sections 36(i), 36(ii), and 36(iii).

General

  1. The Sponsor has absolute discretion to cancel or amend these Terms and Conditions.
  2. The Sponsor or the Administrator will not be responsible for a failure to carry out any obligation under these Terms and Conditions to the extent that the failure is directly caused by a Force Majeure Event, as long as the Administrator:
    1. notifies the Applicants as soon as practicable;
    2. takes all reasonable steps to prevent, avoid and minimize the effects of the Force Majeure Event; and
    3. carries out its duties so far as reasonably achievable while the Force Majeure Event is on-going.
      “Force Majeure Event” means an event beyond the reasonable control of the Administrator or the Sponsor which does not relate to their fault or negligence.
  3. Subject to clause 44 below, the Administrator’s or the Sponsor’s liability to any Applicant (including Successful Applicant) under or in connection with these Terms and Conditions, whether arising from contract, negligence or otherwise, must be limited to one thousand US dollars ($1,000).
  4. The Administrator or the Sponsor must not be liable to you for any of the following:
    1. special, indirect or consequential loss;
    2. pure economic loss, costs, damages or charges;
    3. loss of profits, revenue, anticipated savings;
    4. loss of contracts, business, other funding;
    5. loss of use or goodwill; and
    6. loss or damage arising from the loss, damage, or corruption of any data.
  5. The exclusions and limitations of liability set out in clauses 42 and 43 do not apply to:
    1. liability arising from death or injury to persons;
    2. liability arising as a result of fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; and
    3. any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.
  6. These Terms and Conditions and any dispute between the Applicant (including its employees) and the Administrator or the Sponsor (contractual or otherwise) are governed by English law.
  7. Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of, relating to, or in connection with these Terms and Conditions must be finally resolved by arbitration. The arbitration must be conducted by three (3) arbitrators, in accordance with the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in effect at the time of the arbitration, except as they may be modified herein or by mutual agreement of the parties. The arbitrators must award to the prevailing party its costs and expenses of the arbitration, including its reasonable legal fees and other costs of legal representation, as determined by the arbitrators. The seat of the arbitration must be Singapore, and it shall be conducted in the English language.
  8. Notwithstanding clause 47, nothing prevents any Party from applying for injunctive or other interim relief from any court.
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